WEST SPRINGFIELD – More than 200 people turned out on the town Common Friday afternoon to show their support for the Second Amendment and to voice opposition to any efforts by the government take away their guns.

Sponsored by the Massachusetts chapter of Oath Keepers, speakers urged the crowd to resist any efforts by the state and federal authorities to pass laws restricting their ability to purchase and own firearms.

Oath Keepers, founded four years ago, calls itself a nonpartisan organization made up of current and former veterans and police officers who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. And for all intents on Friday, defending the Constitution was synonymous with upholding the Second Amendment.

Organizer Bryan Doe, of East Longmeadow, said the rally was to coincide with the anniversary of the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. In that fight, the first of the American Revolution, colonists repelled some 700 British soldiers who were marching from Boston to Lexington to seize military supplies the colonists had stored there.

Doe said that just as was the case then, citizens must stand up against the forces of tyranny that wish to take away their guns.

“It’s important to make a stand for our rights and the Second Amendment, and to tell the government not to infringe upon our rights,” he said.

The Second Amendment reads “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”

There remains a great deal of contention on both sides of the issue as to what the founders’ intentions were with the wording of the amendment, but Doe said it couldn’t be clearer.

“I believe (the government) shall not infringe upon our right to self-preservation and self-defense. It is an inherent right by birth and not granted by the government,” he said.

That sentiment was shared by many in the crowd. Several people held ‘Don’t tread on me” flags and banners. Others carried signs reading “The answer to ‘1984’ is ‘1776’,” “What part of ‘infringe upon’ do you not understand?” and “No guns, no ‘Old Glory’”

Doe is an eight-year veteran of the Army and now works as a Department of Defense police officer at Westover Air Reserve Base. Many in the crowd were past and present police officers and veterans, he said.

Doe said he was pleased with the outcome. “(President) Obama was not happy but it was a step in the right direction.”

One man, who declined to give his name, said “I believe in the Second Amendment, and I’m a Vietnam veteran and I believe in the Constitution of the United States – that’s what I fought for.”

The man said he has been concerned about the expansion of gun control measures since he got out of the Army in 1972.

Another man who would only be identified by the nickname “Combat Midget,” which was stitched a patch on his motorcycle vest, said “I believe in the Second Amendment and the Constitution of the United States.”

Combat Midget said he was an Army veteran who saw service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and said he is concerned about rights being taken away.

“They shouldn’t be able to take away rights that we threw down our lives for,” he said. “Ninety percent of the crowd is all vets.”

Michael Vanderboegh, an Alabama resident, spotted a reporter in the crowd and handed him a bag containing a “sponge gun,” a piece of foam rubber cut into the shape of a semi-automatic pistol, to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of gun-control laws.

He said the sponge gun had been “smuggled” into Massachusetts from Alabama, and vowed that if Massachusetts outlawed guns today, he would begin smuggling real guns into the state tomorrow.

Police had a large presence at the rally. Campurciani, several officers and one K9 team stood on one side of the rally, and pairs of officers were seen on the perimeter.

An officer was also videotaping the crowd.

Campurciani said the police turnout was only due to comments seen on the Internet that a pro-gun control group was going to come to hold a counter-rally and there could be trouble.

No counter-protesters materialized, and the rally was peaceful, he said.
“We’re not concerned about these guys (causing trouble,” he said.

One of the speakers told the crowd that people have a Constitutional right to bear arms just as they have the right to freely assemble on the town common for a rally, and for that reason, organizers refused to obtain a permit from the town for the rally.

Campurciani said the group didn’t need a permit to use the common. Permitting is only necessary when the group is going to be using the common for commercial purposes.